23 October 2009

Indonesia has many resources to explore, and we have yet to discover what the best one is that will not be ran out of stocks for a long time and will not pollute our land.I have known coconut as useful trees from my parents’ story about how our ancestors survived in the villages that suffers from lack of energy to be produced as electricity, fuel, etc. They ate the coconut as their food, used its leaves as the materials to build their houses and used its oil as the fried oil. Those things happened hundreds year ago when the technology was not even there. With such a high technology today, those simple things that our ancestors did could be more useful and grow better than that.Using coconut-shell as briquettes is another step to an exchange of our non-renewable resources to the renewable one. Coconut trees could be found in almost everywhere in this country. Some areas, especially in Sumatra, are often recognized as coconut producers. And the business instinct of some people to use the resources available there, which is coconuts, is a brilliant idea as coconut is useful. Instead of polluting the area, coconuts waste can be used as fertilizer too.I think the government has to support some kind of business like this, the one that is not just producing something, but also the one that help the environment to be greener than today.

I am wondering how come education as the basic of everything in this life can not be accessed by a greater part of the people in Indonesia caused by the high cost and the policy that keep changing from time to time.In the past, it was so easy for most of the students to go to school with the available books that were sometimes inherited by their siblings or their seniors at schools. It was because the policy stays the same for some years. Even if it changed, it would only change some aspects of the policy. And the cost of education that time was affordable by the common people, while the high class would normally choose to go to private schools.But today, look at the policy of education that keeps changing following the change of its officials at the department. Some say: “When the officials change, they will change the policy too.”And look at the cost that has been increased in the name of new books, new uniforms, new chairs, new tables and new facilities that never affect the quality of education given by the schools. Yes, the stuffs are new, but the quality of education is stay in poor level.These poor pictures of our current education condition worries me that our next generation would not be able to build our country and reach the same level with other generation from other countries.I just wish that the Government acts right to make an education policy that supports more access for the poor to better education so we can build a great nation in the future that is ready for the next higher challenge and competing with other countries. Those poor people have the same rights with the other rich people to have the same level of education and the same access to any education sources.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s decision on the new ministers at his new cabinet will affect the systems in Indonesia. Our country has more ministries than almost any other major country in the world and the numbers of ministries are often used as a political tool to reward other members of the coalition.Before the election, we knew that so many parties supported SBY as the next president. And when the results came out that SBY won most of the votes, suddenly those parties open their “masks” and demanded to be placed at certain position in the cabinet.Funny thing is that SBY somehow fulfills the demand by searching for the ministers from the parties instead of taking the right people with the best capabilities for the positions. And if it continues for the next five years, I am sure it will affect our country itself to the state of failure and will cost SBY to be the most “unwanted” high profile in this country.My hope is high that SBY’s chosen ministers at his new cabinet are the talented people at their fields who will contribute their best for this county and work as well to bring Indonesia to the next level.

Sumatra, especially Riau, is very important for Indonesia. I know that some ports in Sumatra are the busiest in the country as so many foreign stuffs mostly come into Indonesia through the ports there. Talking about the poor infrastructure occurs in Riau, I must say that it occurs everywhere in this country.Every place in this country is potential enough to be money suppliers for the cities themselves and the country. But the poor facilities, the lack of infrastructure and the less-educated human resources have caused the fortune to stop at its place just like what happens these days. Why the Government can’t see these troubles and try to fix them so every province in the country could live on their own without depending so much on the central Government in Jakarta.The autonomy in those provinces can’t work at its best because it is used by some people to corrupt more. But if the Government has its initiative to increase the quality if infrastructure based on the specialty of each province, I am sure Indonesia will be more than just a big country by size, but also becomes the rich country by its productions and facilities.

29 September 2009

Big companies must keep up with the economic crisis. One nice strategy is that the company limits its projects to achieve effectiveness and efficiency so that the company should not waste the time and energy of the employees.I agree that simplicity in business is important. Most companies are busy with the details that they forget the outside world has changed each and everyday. When they are ready with all of their details, they then realized that what they have prepared can’t be applied and sold to the customers outside for its out of date style and technology. By doing the jobs in simple way, the companies have more times to sit back and read the market's demands and they can review it for their next business strategy.

Frustrated Jakarta’s people and the need to be entertained, but lack of comfort places to go. That’s what I and many other Jakarta’s people can feel.No decent places to go around Jakarta because of their lack of infrastructure have caused most of the Jakarta’s people to spend their holiday walking around at some great and luxurious malls in Jakarta. Malls are not holiday destinations; especially the discounts & the sale that will make you go broke for nothing but material satisfaction, not soul satisfaction. But the fact that the malls offer you some comfort, complete facilitates, and clean places have set the people’s mind that those malls are the best destination to spend our holidays instead of going to a city nearby Jakarta with poor infrastructure.Bandung and Puncak have been the second home for some Jakarta’s people when it’s come to holiday, but it’s just making the two cities packed and trapped into a long traffic jump.Don’t we think that it is now the right time for the other cities around Jakarta to fix their facilitations and infrastructures so these Jakarta’s people have better options for their holiday?

Islam is not terrorists, and terrorist is not Islam. They are two different matters. There’s a struggle in Islam life, but bombing some places that kills other people’s life, especially Muslim’s, is not the struggle that Islam has been promoting. That is a wrong way of struggle. Jihad means to do your responsibility to the fullest and not by bombing some places and kills others. I have no idea how some extremists could plant some wrong lessons about JihadI agree that other foreign countries should not isolate Indonesia. The support from other countries for Indonesia by not releasing travel ban to Indonesia will wake up the eyes of terrorists that Indonesia is not the right field for them to execute their struggle to fight against the Western. But on the other hand, I think it is only the foreign governments that are concerned about the travel issues, as I know that most foreign tourists are still flying to Indonesia and enjoy their holiday in Indonesia and think that Indonesia is still a safe place for them.And I support the Indonesian Terrorism Law for its effectiveness to search, hunt down and combat the terrorists. Nobody should be worry about the law at all. Instead of being worry that the police will abuse the law, they should support the law that will make this country free from terrorist, safe for them to live and work here. They should also give more space to the Armed Forces to save this country, as that’s the job from the Armed Forces to defend this country from any disturbances. If more people believe and agree with these, I am sure Indonesia will be successful in combating terrorism.

I am a Muslim and I am concerned of what the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) doing these days. They have been releasing some unnecessary bans, starting from the ban to smoke, gambling, the plan to ban yoga (which then they canceled), and recently, the ban for the poor to beg on the street.Instead of releasing unnecessary bans that invites some laughs at them, it is better if MUI start to do real act to improve the wealth and condition of the Muslims. I think MUI have the ability to share their ideas on what every Muslim should do to increase their quality of life and make a better Islam way of life. And after that, I am sure that those things will invite more respect by Muslims and non-Muslims to MUI.Some bans only create hates and separate one to another. In this case, forget about unity in diversity, not even diversity in unity. And may I add that Indonesia is not the biggest Islamic country, but a big country that has a lot of Muslim people living in the country, so that’s why tolerance for other religions’ interests is necessary.

It is so unfair to put those kids in jail for the games they played that were taken by the adults as gambling. While the police are eyeing on the kids, some rich gamblers outside are walking free to play their “games” without having to worry that the police will arrest them.And yes, I know that there are many gambling spots on Jl. Gajah Mada. Some are hidden, the rest are wide open.I can’t believe this unfair treatment. What’s on the mind of the police when they arrested the kids? Some promotions? Showing of how powerful they are? Don’t they know that the humans that they arrested are just children that should be sent home instead of putting them in jail? What is really wrong with our police?

26 August 2009

Once in my life, it happened that I wondered around about the relationship of Indonesia and Australia. What I got from the news media so far was some conflicts between the two countries. Then now I understand that the two countries have developed a brand new kind of friendship lately.

Helping each other and more discussions for more understanding between the two countries has brought a better relationship. The support form Australia to the natural disasters happened in Indonesia is an open door for the warmness of Australia for its neighbor named Indonesia. And I guess the warm smile of the local people in Bali to the Australian surfers is also the sign to welcome the Australians to the land of Indonesia.

I hope that the friendship between Indonesia and Australia will continue and grow better than today. Just like what the proverbs says: “Your neighbor is your closest family.”

On the game of Google vs. Microsoft, I must say that the winner is still Google. I am a consumer here, and from the consumer’s perspective, Google is much easier product to apply with.

Whenever I want to search something, I will use Google to do the job. So far, Google has been the best tool for it and nothing can beat it. Google also has complete applications that we can use. Name it. Starting from email, images, video, maps, books, blog, documents, groups, etc. They are free and online, which means we can connect them with the account of our friends and public.

So call me a Google defender, but face it that Microsoft has failed to meet the public expectation for so long for the expensive price of its license. So, even if the Microsoft gives their software for free, I guess people will still choose Google for its simplicity and its high technology that has been tested and proved by its customers.

There has been such a debate lately about the neo-liberalism in Indonesia lately following the presidential election.

One single system might work in a country, but the result will not be as perfect as those countries that combine two or more systems. Two or more systems will complete each other and cover each other’s weaknesses. And I can see that Indonesia has been using the combined system for long and it gives stability to the market in Indonesia.

So are we using neo-liberalism or people’s economy? I guess nobody cares as long as we can enjoy our own economic result & that the people still can get their daily staple food.

Indonesia has this identity crisis. I, as a young generation, feels lost when I search for the uniqueness of my nation and my country. Those people outside only know that Indonesia is a big country, but what’s unique about Indonesia is still confusing.

We should continue what we have started before in our economic sector and explore new sectoral opportunities, but, I must add that the Indonesian Government must maintain them with good education so the outcome will be fully and perfect, without having to fall in the middle of the process.

We have so many natural resources, but they soon will run out and we can never renew them. And yes, the exploration of the natural resources in this country only benefits a few people and leaving some lost and pollutions to the others. So, yes, we have to find something else about Indonesia. With huge population, the Indonesian Government should be able to think about how to enrich its people with enough knowledge and add the value of them with proper education.

From here, I just want to say that it’s all back to the education and good schools that rarely well-present in Indonesia. With good education background, the Indonesian people can be able to find some sectors that haven’t been touch and explored. Creativity sometimes grows from the limitations that we have, but with good knowledge that we have, the creativity may go beyond the commonness. Look at some young people nowadays. They are creative enough to create some working space, like t-shirt makers, small printing factory, design houses, etc. Look at their format. They involve their brain, technology and what they can find around them, and nothing about drilling our natural resources. From what I know, these creative people have good knowledge about what they are doing.

So again, education and knowledge should be the based for our search of new opportunities for Indonesia.

I am proud that Indonesia has been producing some brilliant people that contribute a lot to the country, even to the foreign countries. People like Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Anis Baswedan, and Kuntoro Mangkusubroto have shared their big brainy ideas in their field to the community and the world. Not just sharing, but they also develop some new perspective about what they are doing. These skills can only be done by some people who know that what they share will not only benefit themselves, but also others. That’s what I call a leadership is all about. Not just being a leader of what people should do, but also the excitement to share the knowledge that we have.

Leadership should also begin from our family where parents share their knowledge and experience to their children and teach them how to be a good leader for themselves. If we have 5 kids with leadership skills, that were taught from their families, out of 10 kids, can you imagine how many new brainy breeds that we can produce for our future?

Let’s start this leadership from our own kids, then to our employees and the people around us. If we do this properly, I am sure Indonesia will have more people with advanced skills that will be so much useful for the better of Indonesia and maybe the world.

03 August 2009

Some businesses were in a deep trouble back in 2008 and some companies almost decided to reduce their employees to make their companies go on. But then they start to realize that reducing their employees would not solve the whole problems. They started to re-analyze the problems in the companies, and start to accept that the risks were higher that they expected. But based on this acceptance of risks, they can create some creative plans for the future of their businesses. And there they go, they are still in their business until today, and have expanded into some more divisions.

I must agree that we can get instant impact for our nature by biking everyday.

We give no pollution to the earth and arrive at our destinations faster than any cars. By riding the bicycle, we also contribute something healthy for our body. We ride the bicycle and don’t realize that we have spent so many calories and burned the fat in our body.

I once again agree that biking should be a lifestyle choice in this country. Whether going to the office, malls or even touring to another city, biking is a nice choice for everyone.

We are wondering around about the agenda of these Indonesian president and vice president candidates. They only talk about future programs if they are elected without measuring if they can make it happen or not. They don’t see what happens on the ground, like high price at the market, jobless among the working age and poor conditions in some areas in Indonesia.

Have they tested their programs so they are applicable enough in reality? Or they only make dreamy programs that will be tested as soon as they are elected? If the second choice is what’s in their mind, then I guess their programs will stay as dreamy projects for their own pleasures.

Why don’t they do research first, see what’s up and down on the ground and then make the programs that make sense and applicable?

Indonesia has been hit by many "so-called-attacks", like copyrights, trespassing, etc, from other countries. I can see that some people here try to fight against that with words, mass gathering, etc. But I guess emotion is not policy.

That is where diplomacy is needed, to build bridges between the two conflicting countries, and hope there is a fair solution to both parties. Where conflict and war is no longer an option, there is always a chance for good diplomacy to take care of the problems.

And now, the next question is that can we ensure that Indonesian people truly understand about this theory of good diplomacy?

The "Prita and Manohara Saga" is totally a big joke to the current political process in Indonesia.

Yes, both girls have won the attention of Indonesian people and the front page of local newspapers. And the source of their powers is sensational issues and public’s support to their unlucky and sad conditions. Thanks to the bloggers who support Prita and the tabloids which chase for Manohara’s melodrama.

At the same time, the incidents really question the seriousness of Indonesian Government whether they protect their own people or not. Regarding the current election these days, the saga should also be a part of the president and vice president candidate’s home works, that there will be another "Prita and Manohara Saga" or even more in the future if they don’t really handle the social problem appropriately.

15 July 2009

Indonesia has voted its choice that likely President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would win a second five-year term in a single round of voting over his two rivals – Jusuf Kalla and Megawati Sukarnoputri. From the recent quick count, Yudhoyono has won more than 50 percent of the whole voters. Official results will not be known until later this month, but it is safe to conclude he has received a strong mandate to complete the job he began five years ago.

Though there are a lot of controversies about fake vote paper and else, the election was held peacefully.

One of the aspects that win most voters is that Yudhoyono is seen to have its magic hand to steer the economy of the country onto the road toward progress and growth during his first term.

His rival, Golkar Party, has performed badly in the legislative and presidential polls. By most quick counts, it garnered only 13 percent of the vote. The unprepared strategy, non-sense message and “wrong attack to the wrong guy” are the reason of its lost.

The only better rival, surprisingly are Megawati Sukarnoputri from Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and her running mate, Prabowo Subianto. It is assumed that the popularity of the former general has won some voters and put him as “someone to watch”.

Back to the winning of Yudhoyono, he must push ahead with his economic program in the future. His partner, the former central bank governor Boediono, should complete his mission to prepare the better economic condition for Indonesia, not forgetting that they has to eliminate the ridiculous bureaucracy and, still, corruptions.

The next five years will be important for Indonesia too keep its living in a stable democracy and regional economic powerhouse. This must be important also for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Look at the ‘Indonesian story’. Indonesia’s natural beauty is soul-moving. Visit Bali and you will be no less overwhelmed than viewing Hawaii. The richness of its heritage and culture is unrivaled; its private sector and entrepreneurs the most dynamic of any society; its democracy the most plural yet stable of Asia; and terrorism and radical Islam a thing of the past. Indonesia has so much to be proud of.

Based from here, all the differences that Indonesia has so far, isn’t it a surprised that Indonesia is still keeping its stability under control?

The issue is that if Indonesia can keep its stability as it is, as one of the big countries in ASEAN, it will also help the neighboring countries to be inspired and work more for their people.Others like to frame ASEAN as a bunch of backward third world countries and victims of economic crisis. If Indonesia can prove to the outside world that it survives from the economic crisis, then ASEAN will be inspired by Indonesia to recover from the crisis too, and maybe go a lot better. More on that, Indonesia may be able to help and assist the other countries in ASEAN by sharing some experiences, conducting economic joint cooperation, giving more flexible and easy facilities in trading, etc.

The last ASEAN gathering in March 2009 in Thailand resulted that the ASEAN leaders stressed the necessity of proactive and decisive actions to restore market confidence and ensure continued financial stability as the global economic downturn was deepening. Facing the sweeping financial crisis and a slowed world economy, the leaders reaffirmed their determination to ensure the free flow of goods, services, investment and capital, and facilitate movement of business persons, professionals, talents and labor. The leaders appealed for more coordinated action by both developed and developing countries in a bid to restore financial stability and ensure the continued functioning of financial markets, which will provide support for growth.

The gathering keeps sounding about stability. Yes, stability is a main factor for any country “to build and grow”, and “to fix and repair”. Security stability has contributed so much to any country’s economic development.

As the Asian tiger, Indonesia can give a very good example on how to keep its security and political stability to fix and repair its economic condition and build more chances for the country to grow a little bit better than in the past.

We cannot hide from the global world, but we can prevail over its forces if we do the right thing.

02 July 2009

Among the pollutions, eco issue is such a fresh air. But some people refuse to do eco life as they think it is very expensive. Yes, it is expensive. Look at those eco-vegetables at the market, their price is more expensive than the regular ones. But people must think that what they pay is what they get.

So what’s wrong if we pay more expensive, but we save some for our health and environment?

The government faces the dilemma on this smoking problem. There is a demand to ban smoke in every corner of this country, but then how we provide other job for those cigarette’s labor. One thing is sad to know is that most of the smokers are young people, the poor, and women. The other sad thing is that apparently those passive smokers have no rights to fight this smoking problem.

Some cities in Indonesia have banned smoking in their territory, but that doesn’t mean the number of the smokers decreased. Each and every day, new smoker is born, and there is no hard action from the government and the society on how to stop this bad habit. Hopefully the eyes of the government can be opened on how to stop the silent killer in our body without harming the cigarette’s workers.

Wondering when the government will finish the monorail project instead of arguing about the contract itself. A big city like Jakarta really needs a good transportation for its people to support their activities for 24 hours. Without good transportation, our activities will be slow down or even stop. If these happen, how can we catch up with the necessary things in our life like working, etc?

We pay taxes and everything the government asks, but we can’t enjoy the basic facilities in this city. So where has our money gone? Even if we can enjoy the facility, we still need to pay to use it.

Again, there is no reason not to continue the monorail facilities or whatever projects about good transportation that we need today. So I guess the government should decide whether they really want to continue this monorail projects or not. If not, please switch it to another project that will allow us to enjoy a completely decent transportation in this big city.

Not all of Indonesian departments and official government offices use the technology appropriately. They are still serving us manually with papers, procedures and so on. In other case, look at those young students today who are smart in innovating new gadgets. But there is no appreciation from the government to them. Can you imagine what would happen if the government appreciates them and encourages them to do more? Maybe we can be better than USA and Japan.

Future economic growth will be driven by entrepreneurship and innovation. But one thing must come first, that appreciation is needed and the government facilitates it so the innovation can be useful and continue to grow day by day.

Indonesia will bounce back strong at its recovery from market’s turn down and might catch up with its fellows like Brazil, Russia, India and China. This should really comfort those who are in panic of seeing what global crisis might affect Indonesia.

Hopefully the beliefs will come in reality so all the economic practitioners will not suffer for a long-term.

30 June 2009

A shock to this Jakarta’s branded-lifestyle. It is hard nowadays to find somebody wearing the local brands. Even if it is branded, some of them are counterfeit stuffs. Why wearing fake stuffs, if we have our own great brands?

When some people start wearing Batik, it is the start point where Indonesian brand will be the king in our country.

Indonesia has lost some of its investors due to the current economic condition and issues. Loosing them might not affect some sectors, but it really create bad image of Indonesia to other countries.

We need some commitment from foreign companies to contribute its effort to Indonesia’s economic circle of life. They must know that there are still opportunities and good future in Indonesia. If we can achieve this commitment, hopefully it will strengthen the position of Indonesia in world’s economic position.

Successful entrepreneurs need negative feedback. Some entrepreneurs are usually sensitive enough to hear critics. They need all critics to make their decision look better. They should know what to do and how to do it. They can use critics as their guidance to see what is good for their business and their future. The critics can also give some sights on how to survive in this economic crisis.

The economic crisis has almost stopped some business, but still they must believe that there are other opportunities in Indonesia, actually a lot more than people thought.

29 May 2009

After a beautiful day with some friends on Saturday afternoon, my best buddy Ree offered a meeting to coffee cupping at Blumchen Coffee. She just did not want to meet at a mall that she thinks it is where the kids gather hehehe. Alright then, so I went there.

Before this, Ree has told me that this café is owned by a Korean, the head barista is our former favorite barista at Bakoel Koffie (mas Anto) and how good the place is.

I was greeted by mas Anto himself when I arrived at Blumchen.

As I sat, I felt that the interior of Blumchen has a simple concept, a living room just like in our home.

As you open the front door, at the right side, the café shows a living room with a long sofa just like in our home. At the left side, there is a coffee bar, where the baristas make the coffee that is closely side by side with the coffee roaster machine. After passing the so called living room, there another so called dining room inside. The room is filled with many dining tables. The concept is just like an elite house. The difference is only at the small toys placed at the café. You can see bicycle under the coffee bar, a red motorbike, etc.

That night, I preferred to sit at the coffee bar so I can have chat with the baristas.

After some moment chatting with mas Anto, he then offered me to order some drinks.

As I asked about the favorite kind of drinks there, mas Anto said that Blumchen has three famous drinks: French Kiss Coffee Latte, Rolo Way Latte and Blumchen Spicy Coffee. Suddenly , not only, I asked him to give me one full glass of its three coffee drinks, but also give me the other two drinks as additional drinks in small glasses as tester. Guess what? Mas Anto said: “OK, we will make all three coffee drinks in full glass, but you must finish all of them here, ya.” Oh yeah, I thought he planned to kill me with the joy of caffeine hehehe.

Finally, the three glasses of coffee arrived right in front of me.

The first drink I tasted was French Kiss Coffee Latte. The drink is a mix of coffee, milk, caramel and whipped cream. The taste of caramel is so strong. Mas Anto said that the drink is good for ladies as it tastes sweet. Oh yeah, mas Anto, ladies are indeed sweet hehehehe.

The second drink I tasted was Rolo Way Latte. The drink is a mix of coffee, caramel, chocolate, and whipped cream. The taste of this drink is almost the same with French Kiss Coffee Latte, but bolder, as it does not have milk in it and it has chocolate. The color of the drink is darker than French Kiss Coffee Latte.

The last coffee I tasted which was my favorite one was Blumchen Spicy Coffee. The drink is a mix between espresso and cinnamon. The baristas usually will ask us if we want to add the drink with whipped cream, but I suggest not. The drink taste better without whipped cream, because the taste of coffee and cinnamon are the main sources of joy of the drink. It tastes soft. And when the flavor of the cinnamon hits your nose, that is it! I know it as the joy of coffee cupping.

The Blumchen Coffee has free wi-fi. So if you come alone, do not feel so lonely, please. You can grab some magazines provided in the café or take your laptop with you and browse some good websites here.

By the way, Blumchen Coffee sells coffee beans and Vietnamese coffee dripper. And in the future, they will sell mini coffee grinder.

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About Me

Astrid Amalia is a Certified Yoga Teacher and CranioSacral Therapist from the Kabira Yoga school. She teaches the principle of Energetic Yoga, and she shares healing work. She is a practitioner of CranioSacral Therapy, one of the most avant garde and fascinating healing modalities.

Astrid offers private Yoga practice and CranioSacral therapy sessions that are designed specifically for the individual client. Private sessions can be held in the client’s home, apartment, office, hotel, and designated studio space.